Talk:Girl Meets STEM/@comment-4884084-20160110080208/@comment-26999065-20160110213208
I’d disagree that Riley, at least, is trying to take control of her female classmate’s choices. She was, instead, pointing out the pervasive attitude that society seems to exhibit that women should accept these lesser roles, or are almost expected to, and is showing her disappointment in her friends that they are doing that. This is a fair encouragement – not trying to run their lives, but help them run their own lives. This didn’t become a problem just because Riley saw it and mentioned it. It was a problem before, it is a problem now, and it’ll remain a problem unless somebody does something about it. The fact most of the other girls more willingly accepted the lesser roles than Riley was willing to is a product of the on-going social problem – and willingly accepting their acceptance of it just means the problem will continue. And you should know something odd was going on when, all other things being equal, one should get 50% of the marble droppers being boys and 50% being girls. The fact 100% were girls is a strong indication something is wrong. Unless or until girls are shown they can stand up for themselves and have more responsibility, are capable of doing more, and accepted by others if they do choose to do more, most girls won’t and will be quite happy with getting the pair of shoes they like, instead of making them, or better yet, running the factory where they are made. You expect less of somebody, don’t be surprised if you get it. It’s short changing all of society by doing that or allowing it to be done. So, Riley explained they could do more. Topanga explained it better. The girls were told they could do more. Sorry, but that’s not controlling them or trying to control them. Only after educating them will they have a real choice. If you say nothing, do nothing, and are happy with the status quo, things won’t get better, which, if you’re a guy who already gets to do what he wants, is just fine and dandy, particularly if you feel the need to eliminate 50% of your competition from the contest. But if you’re a girl, the future looks a little more bleak and far more limited. So I disagree that Riley is a moron, idealistic or otherwise. She’s not trying to force her choices on her female classmates – she’s informing them they have more choices and can do more. And let’s not forget Mr. Norton’s entire reason for running this experiment for the last 35 years was so the students could discover this and do something about it – not to just shut up and sit down and accept it. But maybe you think Mr. Norton is an idealistic moron, too. Teachers do tend to hope for the best and often accept low pay and a meager social standing to give lots of kids the best start they can have in life. What idiots. What kind of idealistic morons are teaching our kids, anyway?